Ron Weasley and The Greatest Knight
by Amazingfullyweird
Summary: Heroes. You always read about them in stories. The hero is the main character. The one everyone loves. Haven't you always wanted to be the hero of the story? The one who always saves the day? Always gets the girl? The star of the show? That's not me. I'm not the hero. I'm not the one to save the day. I'm not the star. This is not a heroes story. I'm Ron Weasley. This is my story.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter (or Ron Weasley) in any way shape or form.**

* * *

 _ **Pumpkin Pasties, Train Rides, and Harry Potter**_

"Rise and shine Weasleys!" The sharp voice rang out through the house, carrying all the way up the crooked stairway. I sighed in annoyance and buried my face deeper into my pillow. I hate morning.

Something hit my back and I bolted upright, which in turn, caused me to tumble and fall out of bed. The wooded floor groaned at the sudden weight but it held. I looked up over the side of the bed to see Fred and George looking down at me. I glared while they continued to grin.

"Get up Ronnykins!" George sang.

"You don't want to be late for your first day at Hogwarts do you?" Fred asked.

I just continued to glare at them while I got up from the floor and headed down the winding stairs to the kitchen. The whole family was there, Mum, Dad, Bill, Percy, Ginny, even Fred and George had managed to sit down at the table before I had even reached the bottom of the stairs. Everyone was here except Charlie, he was still in Romania studying dragons, but with seven kids I guess you never really notice when one is missing.

Walking towards the long table, I only had to duck for a floating pan twice before I sat down at one of the chairs at the end of the table. Filling the plate with as much food as I could, I dug into it. It took me about five minutes to scarf down the food and I was going to go back for seconds, but my plate sprang up from the table in front of me and glided over to the sink where it proceeded to wash itself and hoped back over to the cupboard it originally came from.

Mum shooed me up from my seat and told me to get ready to go; we had to get to the platform in time to catch the train, of course. I walked slowly up the stairs, yawning as I packed the rest of my truck and got dressed.

"Hurry up; we're going to be late!" Mum's voice rang around the house. I practically ran back down the stairs, trunk in hand. She sounded mad, and no one likes Mum when she's mad. The same thing occurred to everyone else as I found them all standing downstairs, eyes wide and fidgeting where they stood as if they were waiting in anxious anticipation. I suppose in a way they were.

Mum entered the room, taking a look at our nervous expressions and just ushered us out and into the car. It was a light blue Ford Anglia, it was bigger than it seemed on the inside and I overheard that Dad had bewitched it so it was like that, but Mum could never find that out. She would go bonkers if she found out that Dad had been playing with his Muggle toys again and would yell at him. When she got mad, no one was happy. No, it was better for her just to think that Muggles are smarter then they let on and the car was supposed to be like that.

The car ride was a long, quiet one, as Bill and Dad stayed home leaving me with only Percy, Fred, George, Ginny, and Mum. The only sound breaking the silence was the sound of the tires rubbing against the road, Mum wasn't even scolding us for being late.

We reached the station ten minutes till eleven and Mum travelled briskly through the crowd, forcing us to jog to keep up.

"See boys," She started and I internally groaned, knowing we were about to be in trouble. Hours before school started, figures. "Now we're late and everyone else has already reached the platform." She looked around at the crowded station. "So many people. It's the same year after year. Always packed with Muggles, of course.."

We reached the area around platforms nine and ten when Mum asked, "Now, what's the platform number?"

"Nine and three-quarters!" Ginny answered, tugging on Mum's hand, "Mum, can't I go..." She pleaded.

"You're not old enough, Ginny, now be quite." There was that firm tone, it had been gone for too long. "All right now, Percy, you go first." She directed him toward the barrier between nine and ten.

Percy stepped forward and marched toward it with his head held high. A crowd of people came by and blocked our view and when they moved, Percy was gone but we knew he had made it.

"Fred, you next." Fred stepped forward at her command.

"I'm not Fred, I'm George," He said. I couldn't tell if he was joking or not. "Honestly, woman, you call yourself our mother? Can't you _tell_ I'm George?"

Mum must have thought he was being sincere because she corrected herself. "Sorry, George, dear."

"Only joking, I am Fred." He told her with a grin and walked toward the barrier, as slow as he possibly could.

"Oi, Fred! Hurry it up!" George yelled after him and a second later he was gone. George followed soon after.

"Excuse me." A voice came from the other side of Mum and she turned towards the source. Standing there was a skinny kid who had a mess of jet black hair sitting atop his head. He had on round, metal rimmed glasses bound together at the nose with a bunch of Scotch tape. He wore clothes that seemed to be at least five times too big and he looked around nervously as if he felt out of place. Though I don't think I could really blame him, we never hang around the Muggles for more than five minutes if we can help it. They were so weird and always gave us strange looks.

Mum smiled at the kid. "Hello, dear. First time at Hogwarts? Ron's new, too." She officially introduced me. I nodded in a simple greeting.

"Yes," He answered awkwardly. "The thing is - the thing is, I don't know how to - " It looked like he didn't know how to ask his question.

"How to get onto the platform?" She asked him kindly. The kid nodded. "Not to worry. All you have to do is walk straight at the barrier between platforms nine and ten. Best to do it at a bit of a run if you're nervous. Go on, go now before Ron."

He looked at her a little skeptically, but he seemed to decide to trust her.

"Er - okay."

He pushed his trolley around in front of him. With a quick look back at Mum, he started walking towards it. He gathered speed and I could see him start to become nervous as he came closer, thinking he was going to run into the wall. Where did this kid come from? Anyone going to Hogwarts knew how to pass through the barrier. I supposed the kid could have been raised by Muggles, but to not know completely? Blimey.

The kid disappeared into the barrier and I took off after him, Mum and Ginny following soon after.

Passing through the wall, I attempted to find the kid again but a large scarlet engine caught my eye instead. The Hogwarts Express. Near the barrier which I just came through was an old fashion iron arch. Below it was a sign that read _Platform Nine and Three-Quarters_. The kid almost completely vanished from my mind, as I realized, I was finally going to Hogwarts.

I went to go find a compartment on board the train when someone grabbed my arm. They pulled me back and I was crushed into someone's chest.

"Oh, my little Ronny's all grown up!" Mum cried as she pulled my closer to her. "Off to his first year at Hogwarts!"

My face started to heat up as people looked over at us. "Mum." I groaned and pushed myself away.

She wiped away a tear from her cheek and walked over to the open train door. "Fred? George? Are you there?" She called.

"Coming, Mum." Came their reply. Seconds later they hopped down from the doorway.

"Ron," Mum turned towards me with a handkerchief in her hand, "You've got something on your nose." I tried moving out of the way, but she grabbed my face and rubbed the end of my nose.

" _Mum_ \- geroff." I complained incoherently, finally pulling away from her grasp.

"Aaah, has ickle Ronny got somefink on his nosie?" George mocked.

"Shut up."

"Where's Percy?" Mum questioned.

"He's coming now." Fred replied. Sure enough, Percy came striding intro the group, already changed into his Hogwarts robes, looking like he wished he was anywhere else. His prefect badge shining on his chest.

"Can't stay long, Mother," He told her. "I'm up front; the prefects have got two compartments to themselves -"

"Oh, are you a _prefect_ , Percy?" Fred said in mock surprise. "You should have said something, we had no idea."

"Hang on," George cut in, "I think I remember him saying something about it. Once -"

"Or twice -"

"A minute -"

"All summer -"

"Oh, shut up." Percy said, annoyed.

"How come Percy's got new robes, anyway?" George asked.

"Because he's a _prefect._ " Mum said fondly. "All right, dear, well, have a good term - send me an owl when you get there."

She kissed Percy on the cheek and he left. She turned to Fred and George with a stern look on her face.

"Now, you two - this year, you behave yourselves. If I get one more owl telling me you've blown up a toilet or -"

"Blown up a toilet? We've never blown up a toilet." Fred interrupted.

"Great idea though, thanks Mum."

"It's _not funny_. And look after Ron."

"Don't worry; ickle Ronnykins is safe with us."

"Shut up." I butt in. My nose still itched where Mum had rubbed and I was sure it was still red.

"Hey Mum, guess what?" George said suddenly. "Guess who we just met on the train?"

"You know that black-haired boy who was near us in the station? Know who he is?"

"Who?"

" _Harry Potter!_ "

Suddenly Ginny looked up in excitement as she pulled on Mum's hand again. "Oh, Mum, can I go see him, Mum, oh please..." She pleaded.

"You've already seen him, Ginny, and the poor boy isn't something you goggle at in a zoo. Is he really, Fred? How do you know?"

"Asked him. Saw his scar. It's really there - like lightning."

"Poor _dear_ \- no wonder he was alone, I wondered. He was ever so polite when he asked how to get onto the platform."

"Never mind that, do you think he remembers what You-Know-Who looks like?"

Mum became very stern almost immediately.

"I forbid you to ask him, Fred. No, don't you dare. As though he needs reminding of that on his first day at school." Fred held up his hands in defeat.

"All right, keep your hair on."

Somewhere in the background, a whistle sounded.

"Hurry up!" Mum said and the three of us climbed aboard the train. We stuck our heads out of the nearest window to say a final goodbye. Ginny started to cry.

"Don't, Ginny, we'll send you loads of owls."

"We'll send you a Hogwarts toilet seat." Ginny found it funny and let out a small smile. Mum, on the other hand, did not.

" _George!_ "

"Only joking, Mum."

The train started to move and Mum waved us goodbye. Ginny, half laughing, half crying, ran alongside the train until it was going too fast, where she stood and waved.

Fred and George had already walked out of the compartment leaving me here on my own. For a second, I didn't know what I was going to do when the face of the boy from the platform popped up in my mind. Harry Potter. The face had a name, and it was a famous one at that.

Leaving the compartment, I walked down the long hallways, looking for that black haired boy. At the end of the train, I found him sitting in an otherwise empty compartment, looking at the trees going by out the window. I opened the compartment door and stuck my head in. The boy turned to look at me.

"Anyone sitting there?" I asked, pointing to the empty seat across from him. "Everywhere else is full."

Ok, so maybe that was a lie, but this was Harry Potter, I was going to at least try.

He simply shook his head and I sat down. I took a quick glance at the kid who went back to looking out the window. The door opened again and two identical heads popped into the room.

"Listen, we're going down the middle of the train - Lee Jordan's got a giant tarantula down there."

"Right." I mumbled. I don't know why they wanted to be around any of the bloody things. Right terrifying, they are.

"Harry, did we introduce ourselves? Fred and George Weasley. And this is Ron, our brother. See you later, then."

"Bye." Harry and I said. With that they left, sliding the compartment door shut behind them.

"Are you really Harry Potter?" I blurted out, mentally cursing myself. Now he's going to think I'm mental or something.

Harry, however, just nodded.

"Oh - well, I thought it might be one of Fred and George's jokes." I explained lamely. "And have you really got - you know..." I pointed at his forehead, not sure how to phrase the question.

Harry pulled back his bangs to show the lightning shaped scar. I tried not to stare, but I failed. Harry Potter was really sitting in front of me.

"So that where You-Know-Who -?"

"Yes," Harry replied. "But I can't remember it."

"Nothing?" I asked, not noticing the obvious eagerness in my voice.

"Well - I can remember a lot green light, but nothing else."

"Wow." I looked at Harry again, amazed he was really there, when I realized I was staring. I quickly looked out the window.

"Are all your family wizards?" I heard Harry ask.

"Er - yes, I think so." I answered. "I think Mum's got a second cousin who's an accountant, but we never talk about him."

"So you must know loads of magic already." Harry said looking slightly dejected. I didn't know what to say to his question and he looked so upset, I decided to change the subject.

"I heard you went to live with Muggles. What were they like?"

"Horrible - well, not all of them. My aunt and uncle and cousin are, though. Wish I'd had three wizard brothers."

"Five." I corrected, my mood dropping slightly. "I'm the sixth in our family to go to Hogwarts. Bill and Charlie have already left - Bill was Head Boy and Charlie was captain of Quidditch. Now Percy's a prefect. Fred and George mess around a lot, but they still get really good marks and everyone think they're really funny. Everyone expects me to do as well the others, but if I do, it's no big, because they did it first. You never get anything new, either, with five brothers. I've got Bill's old robes, Charlie's old wand, and Percy's old rat."

I reached into the pocket of my jacket and pulled out the fat, grey lump, which happened to be asleep.

"His name is Scabbers and he's useless, he hardly ever wakes up. Percy got an owl from my dad for being made prefect, but they couldn't aff - I mean, I got Scabbers instead."

I feel the tips of my ears burn. I shouldn't have said that. Now he'll think I'm some poor loser.

"Don't feel too bad. I never had much money either.

Apparently Harry knew what it was like not to have money to spend, his aunt and uncle never gave him any, nor bought him anything. He was forced to wear his cousins old clothes that were much too big for Harry's tiny frame. I didn't want to admit this made me feel a bit better. It was obvious he made it up (the Boy-Who-Lived, not having a good life? Not possible.) but I appreciated the effort he made.

"... and until Hagrid told me, I didn't know anything about being a wizard or about my parents or Voldemort -"

I gasped, cutting Harry off.

"What?" He asked me.

"You said You-Know-Who's name!" I explained, "I'd have thought you, of all people -"

"I'm not trying to be brave or anything, saying the name," He told me. "I just never knew you shouldn't. See what I mean? I've got loads to learn... I bet, I bet I'm the worst in the class."

"You won't be. There's loads of people who come from Muggle families and they learn quick enough."

We were quiet for a while after. It was around half past twelve when the trolley full of sweets came around. The old, rosy cheeked lady with a dimpled smile stuck her head in the compartment. "Anything off the trolley, dears?"

Harry leapt up on his feet and walked over to the compartment door and the trolley. My face heat up and I mumbled under my breath that I already brought some sandwiches to eat. There was no talking between the two of them and I looked up. Harry was just standing there at the door, looking at the trolley piled high with all sorts of sweets. The even had some Licorice Wands and Fudge Flies. Harry had his head cocked to the side in confusion and did nothing. Oh, right. Raised by Muggles.

Soon enough Harry snapped out of it and bought some of everything. And I thought I ate a lot. I stared at him as he carried almost the whole cart into the room and plopped it all down on the seat next to him.

"Hungry are you?" I asked

"Starving," He corrected as he took a large bite out of a Pumpkin Pasty.

I reached inside my bag and took out the lumpy bag that contained my sandwich and unwrapped it. Before I took a bite out of it, I pulled it apart. Then I closed it immediately and put it back in the bag. "She always forgets I don't like corned beef."

"Swap you for one of these," Harry said, holding up a pasty, and when I didn't take it he held it closer. "Go on -"

"You don't want this, it's all dry." I told him. "She hasn't got much time, you know with the five of us."

"Go on," He said, completely ignoring me. "Have a pasty."

And soon enough we were eating our weight in pasties, cakes, and candies.

"What are these?" Harry asked when he reached the Chocolate Frogs. "They're not real frogs, are they?"

"No," I assured him, "But see what the card is. I'm missing Agrippa." I told him absentmindedly.

"What?"

"Oh, of course, you wouldn't know. Chocolate Frogs have cards inside them, you know, to collect - famous witches and wizards. I've got about five hundred, but I haven't got Agrippa or Ptolemy."

Harry unwrapped the Frog and turned over the card.

"So this is Dumbledore!" He said looking at the picture on the front.

"Don't tell me you've never heard of Dumbledore!" I told him. "Can I have a Frog? I might get Agrippa - thanks -"

While I opened the box in my hands, Harry read over the description they provided on the back of the card. Flipping it back over, He gasped in surprise.

"He's gone!"

"Well you can't expect him to hang around all day. He'll be back." I looked down at my card. "No, I've got Morgana again and I've got about six of her... do you want it? You can start collecting."

No matter how hard I tried not to, my gaze wondered back to the pile of Chocolate Frogs and sweets, yet to be eaten. Harry notices this.

"Help yourself." He said. And I did. "But, you know, in the Muggle world, people just stay put in photos."

"Do they? What, they don't move at all? _Weird_!"

Harry stared at the picture again and I was more interested in the actual frogs, giving the card to Harry for him to collect. I looked up from the Cauldron Cake I was eating, to see Harry open a bag of Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans.

"You want to be careful with those," I warned him. "When the say every flavour, they _mean_ every flavour - you know, you get all the ordinary ones, like chocolate and peppermint and marmalade, but then you can get spinach and liver and tripe. George reckons he had a booger-flavoured one once."

I looked I picked up a green one and bit hesitantly into the corner. And nearly spit it out.

"Bleaaargh - see? Sprouts."

After that, we had a good time trying each and every bean. He was braver than I was as it turned out. There was this weird grey one I didn't even want to guess what flavour it could possibly be. It turned out to only be pepper.

We moved along the countryside. Woods and twisting rivers and hills now took the place of the flat field as we rolled along to Hogwarts.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter (or Ron Weasley) in any way shape or form.**

* * *

 _ **Castles, Toads, ad Funny Names**_

There was a knock on the door of the compartment and a kid with a round face came in.

"Sorry," he said. "but I you seen a toad at all?"

We shook our heads and he started to freak. "I've lost him! He keeps getting away from me!"

"He'll turn up," Harry said with more reassurance than I would have been able to muster.

"Yeah," The boy said miserably. "Well, if you see him..."

With that, he left.

"Don't know why he's so bothered." I said. "If I'd brought a toad I'd lose it as quick as I could. Mind you, I brought Scabbers, so I can't talk."

The rat was still snoozing on my lap.

"He might have died and you wouldn't know the difference," I said in disgust, "I tried to turn him yellow yesterday to make him more interesting, but the spell didn't work. I'll show you, look..."

I rummaged around my bag, moving around second hand books and slightly worn out clothes until I found what I was looking for. Pulling out my wand I saw Harry looking at it with interest.

"Unicorn hair's nearly poking out." I said, pulling at the end of the silvery stuff. "Anyway-"

I had just barley lifted up the wand when the door slid open again. The boy who lost his toad was back, but this time he had a girl with him. She had frizzy brown hair, teeth that seemed too big for her mouth, and an annoyed look on her face. She had already changed into her Hogwarts robes.

"Has anyone seen a toad? Neville's lost one." she said. She had this bossy sort of voice and it seemed to echo around annoyingly in my head.

"We've already told him we haven't seen it." I told her, hoping she would leave, but she wasn't listening, she was looking at the wand I still have in my hand.

"Oh, are you doing magic? Let's see it, then." She sat down and looked at me expectantly.

"Er - alright."

" _Sunshine, daises, butter mellow,_

 _Turn this stupid, fat rat yellow_."

I waved the wand around but nothing happened. Scabbers was still grey and fast asleep.

"Are you sure that's a real spell?" The girl asked, "Well, it's not very good, is it? I've tried a few simple spells just for practice and it's all worked for me. Nobody in my family's magic at all, it was ever such a surprise when I got my letter, but I was ever so pleased, of course, I mean, it's the very best school of witchcraft there is, I've heard - I've learned all our course books by heart, of course, I just hope it will be enough - I'm Hermione Granger, by the way, who are you?"

She said this so fast it made my head hurt.

"I'm Ron Weasley." I muttered in response.

"Harry Potter." Harry replied.

"Are you really?" She didn't sound too surprised, making it obvious that she hadn't grown up with the amazement of the Boy-Who-Lived. "I know all about you, of course - I got a few extra books for background reading, and you're in _Modern Magical History_ and _The Rise and Fall of the Dart Arts_ and _Great Wizarding Events of The Twentieth Century_."

"Am I?" He asked. He really didn't know anything about his fame? Hermione seemed shocked as well.

"Goodness, you didn't know? I'd have found out everything I could if it was me." Hermione told us. "Do either of you know what house you'll be in?" She didn't wait for us to answer before she continued. "I've been asking around, and I hope I'm in Gryffindor, it sounds by far the best; I hear Dumbledore himself was in it, but I suppose Ravenclaw wouldn't be too bad... Anyway, we'd better go and look for Neville's toad. You two had better change, you know, I expect we'll be there soon."

And then she left, Neville trailing skittishly behind her.

"Whatever house I'm in, I hope she's not in it." I said throwing the stupid, broken wand back into my trunk. "Stupid spell - George gave it to me, bet he knew it was a dud."

"What house are you're brothers in?" Harry asked.

"Gryffindor," I told him, my mood depleting some. "Mum and Dad were in it too. I don't know what they'll say if I'm not. I don't suppose Ravenclaw would be too bad, but imagine if they put me in Slytherin." I shuddered slightly at the possibility. I couldn't even imagine what my family would say.

"That was the house Vol -, I mean You-Know-Who was in?"

"Yeah."

"You know, I think the ends of Scabbers' whiskers are a bit brighter." Harry told me, trying to change the subject. "So what do your oldest brothers do now they've left, anyway?"

"Charlie's in Romania studying dragons, and Bill's going to Africa doing something for Gringotts." I told him. "Did you hear about Gringotts? It's been all over the _Daily Prophet,_ but I don't suppose you get that with the Muggles - someone tried to rob a high security vault."

Harry looked at me.

"Really? What happened to them?"

"Nothing." I explained. "That's why it's such big news. They haven't been caught. My dad says it must've been a powerful Dark wizard to get round Gringotts, but they don't think they took anything, that's what's odd. 'Course, everyone gets scared when something like this happened in case You-Know-Who's behind it."

Harry was quiet for a while when, suddenly I thought of something.

"What's your Quidditch team?" I asked him. He seemed to snap out of his trance. But he still had this look of confusion on his face.

"Er - I don't know any."

"What!" The fact that he grew up out of this world slipped my mind, but still. Never heard of Quidditch! "Oh, you wait, it's the best game in the world!" And with that fact, I went on to explain it all. I was just going on to explain all the different fouls players can make (some of which only happened once, in the first ever Quidditch World Cup. Man, I wish I could have seen those) when the door slid open once again, but it wasn't Neville coming to question about his toad, or even Hermione returning to patronize us on the facts and statistics of Hogwarts.

There were three boys this time, two big blokes with stupid looks on their faces flanked the smallest of the trio. A pale boy with pointed features and white-blonde hair stood at the compartment door looking at Harry with interest, as if he was just now seeing how valuable something can be.

"Is it true then?" He said. "They're all saying that Harry Potter's in this compartment. So it's you, is it?"

"Yes." Harry stated simply. He didn't seem to be looking at the pale boy, but rather at the goons that were standing behind him. The boy noticed this.

"Oh, this is Crabbe and this is Goyle." He explained. "And my name's Malfoy, Draco Malfoy."

I laughed a bit and hid it with a cough when he turned his head and looked at me, as if seeing me for the first time.

"Think my name's funny do you?" Draco sneered. "No need to ask who you are. My father told me all the Weasleys have red hair, freckles, and more children then they can afford."

He turned back to look at Harry, leaving me hot in the face and making faces at the back of his head.

"You'll soon find out some wizarding families are much better than others, Potter. You don't want to go making friends with the wrong sort. I can help you there."

He held out his hand for Harry to shake and I thought that was the end of it. Harry Potter was going to ditch me now and I would have no friends. To my surprise, and to Malfoy's as well, Harry didn't take his hand.

"I think I can tell the wrong sort are for myself, thanks." He replied coolly.

Malfoy didn't go red in the face, but pink appeared on his pale cheeks and he seemed less confident than he did before.

"I'd be careful if I were you, Potter." He said slowly. "Unless you're a bit politer you'll go the same way as your parents. They didn't know what was good for them, either. You hang around with riffraff like the Weasleys and that Hagrid, and it'll rub off on you."

This time, both Harry and I stood up to face him.

"Say that again." I dared him, sounding braver than I felt, but I was sure my burning face gave me away.

"Oh, you're going to fight us, are you?" Malfoy sneered.

"Unless you get out now." Harry said, which must have taken guts, as Crabbe and Goyle were each bigger than me or him.

"But we don't feel like leaving, do we, boys? We've eaten all our food and you still seem to have some."

Goyle reached toward a Chocolate Frog next to me and I leapt towards him. But before I could even get a hand on Goyle's massive shoulder, he yelled out.

Scabbers was hanging off his finger, the rat's sharp teeth sunk deep into Goyle's fat knuckle. Crabbe and Malfoy backed away as Goyle swung Scabbers round the compartment, howling, and when Scabbers finally released his finger and hit the window, all three of them disappeared at once. They might have thought there were more rats lurking around in the pile of sweets, or they might have heard the footsteps because a second later, Hermione Granger had stepped back into the room.

"What has been going on?" She asked, her eyes scanning the ground now covered in sweets and I went to pick Scabbers off the floor by the end of his tail.

"I think he's been knocked out." I told Harry, poking Scabbers side. Then I took a closer look. "No - I don't believe it - he's gone back to sleep."

I then thought of something Malfoy had said.

"You've met Malfoy before?"

Harry told me how he met him at Madam Malkin's in Diagon Alley.

"I've heard of his family." I told him darkly. "They were some of the first to come back to our side after You-Know-Who disappeared. Some said they were bewitched. My dad doesn't believe it. He says Malfoy's father didn't need an excuse to go over to the Dark Side." I turned to the girl who was just standing there, saying nothing. "Can we help you with something?"

"You'd better hurry up and put your robes on. I've just been up to the front to ask the conductor, and he says we're nearly there. You haven't been fighting, have you? You'll be in trouble before we even get there."

"Scabbers has been fighting, not us." I told her, scowling. Who did she think she was? My mum? "Would you mind leaving while we change?"

"Alright - I only came in her because people outside are behaving very childishly, racing up and down the corridors." She said in a stiffy sort of voice. "And you've got dirt on your nose, by the way, did you know?"

I glared at her when she left. Harry looked outside the window. It was getting pretty dark out there, and the train did seem to be slowing down slightly. We took off our jackets and pulled on our long black robes. Mine were a bit short for me and my trainers showed under them.

A voice echoed through the train: "We will be reaching Hogwarts in five minutes' time. Please leave your luggage on the train, it will be taken to the school separately."

My face drained of its colour as I felt the nervousness set in. I crammed the rest of the sweets into my pockets and walked, shaking down the corridor.

The train slowed down to a stop and people pushed past each other as they headed towards the door, some people going considerably slower than others, giving away who was new and who had nothing to be nervous about. We made our way through the crowd, out of the warm train and into the cold night air. All of the first years stood around, holding on to themselves to keep warm, wondering what we were supposed to do. A light came bobbing over and a voice called out: "Firs' years! Firs' years over here! All right there, Harry?"

A big, hairy face came into the light over the sea of heads.

"C'mon, follow me - any more firs' years? Mind yer step, now! Firs' years follow me!"

The rest of the first years looked relieved they now how somewhere to go, hopefully out of the cold weather. Slipping and stumbling, we followed the giant of a man down a steep, narrow path. Nobody spoke much, really. Neville, the boy who can't find his toad, sniffed a couple of times. Along the way, Harry had told me that the giant's name was Hagrid and that he was the gameskeeper at Hogwarts.

"Yeh'll get yer firs' sight o' Hogwarts in a sec," Hagrid told us over his shoulder from the front of the group, "jus' round this bend here."

There was a loud "Oooooooh!" as the bend cleared and the castle came into view. Perched up high, at the top of a mountain, it sat, its many towers reaching up into the night sky. A great lake as dark as the sky separates the ancient castle and the platform we stood on.

"No more'n four to a boat!" Hagrid called, pointing to a fleet of tiny boats, bobbing in the water by the shore. Harry and I headed to a boat, followed closely by Hermione and Neville.

"Everyone in?" Hagrid shouted. He had a single boat all to himself. "Right then - FORWARD!"

And the little boats moved forward silently, gliding across the smooth lake like a tiny, not very intimidating army. Everyone was quiet, gazing up at the brilliant building that was the Hogwarts castle, and in that moment, I felt like I could truly understand why my brothers love this place so much. It towered over us as we sailed nearer to the mountain where it stood.

"Heads down!" Hagrid yelled as the first of the boats reached a cliff. We bent our heads down when it was our turn and the boats carried us through an ivy curtain that hid the open cliff face. We were carried along a dark tunnel that wove right under the school. We reached something like an underground harbour, where we climbed out of the boats.

"Oi, you there! Is this your toad?" Hagrid asked with a rather ugly toad in his giant hand.

"Trevor!" Neville cried out, rushing towards the man, holding out his hands for his beloved toad. Once he came back to the group, his toad clutched in his hands, we walked up the pebbled passageway, trying to keep up with Hagrid's large strides. We came out onto a smooth, damp grass field in the shadow of the looming castle.

We walked up a flight of stone step and crowded around a huge, oak door.

"Everyone here?" He addresses the nervous crowd, then turning towards Neville the Toad Boy, "You there, still got yer toad?"

Hagrid raised one of his gigantic fists and knocked on the castle door three echoing times.


End file.
